Ragtime Dance, Saxophone Quartet

The American composer Scott Joplin (1868 - 1917) is still known as "The King of Ragtime". He wrote at least 100 of them, the best known of which are "The Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer". This Ragtime Dance was initially created for piano, but was first published in a stage version complete with narration and choreography in 1902. Unfortunately, it became a commercial failure. The recording of the album "Scott Joplin piano rags" by the pianist Joshua Rifkin was the turning point and brought great fame: more than a million copies were sold. Ragtime Dance was subtitled "A Stop-Time Two Step" as the pianist had to stomp his feet on the floor during one section. This arrangement for saxophone quartet makes surprising use of this effect.

This composition was created with the help of a contribution from the Music Investment Fund, an initiative of Buma/Stemra in cooperation with Voi©e, the Copyright Interests Federation and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands.